Protein quality of four indigenous edible insect species in Nigeria

Food security is a serious concern particularly for developing countries.To overcome hunger and malnutrition there is a need for increased research towards finding alternative and cheaper sources of nutrients.Insects have been reported to be rich in protein and could be alternative sources of protein.This work was therefore designed to determine the protein quality of moth caterpillar,termite,cricket and grasshopper and the effects of diets supplemented with these insects on some biochemical and haematological indices of rats.The amino acid compositions of the insects were determined using standard analytical methods.Five iso-nitrogenous and isocaloric diets were formulated on a 10%protein basis with the insects and casein.A Nitrogen free diet was also formulated as control.Thirty six(36)young weanling albino rats(21–28 days old)were divided into 6 groups and fed with the diets ad libitum for 28 days.Their weekly weight gain and daily feed intake were recorded,urine and faeces were collected for nitrogen determination using Kjedahl method and the data obtained used to calculate the various protein quality indices.After the feeding trial periods,the rats were sacrificed,blood samples collected and organs excised for various analyses.Cricket was found to have the highest amino acid score(0.91),protein efficiency ratio(1.78),net protein ratio(3.04)biological value(93.02%)and protein digestibility corrected for amino acid score(0.73)as compared to other insect proteins analysed.The organ body weight ratios of the liver,spleen,lung and heart of rats placed on the insect supplemented diets were not significantly different(p>0.05)from those fed with casein and basal diets.Serum total protein concentrations in rats fed with cricket diet were not significantly different(p>0.05)from those fed casein diet while serum LDL cholesterol concentration was lowest in rats fed cricket diet.The finding in this work that the selected insects are nutritious and safe for consumption may alleviate the fear of entomophagy thereby reducing the overdependence on conventional animal proteins.

Diversity of Insect Pest and Predator Species in Monsoon and Summer Rice Fields of Taungoo Environs, Myanmar

Paddy fields are natural and artificial wetland ecosystems that supply rice for the people and provide the wildlife especially insect diversity of different functional aspects. A total of 71 insect species belonging to 40 families under eight orders were observed during the study period. Among the 71 insect species, 18 species of beetles, nine species of bugs, eight species of dragonfly, five species of butterflies, four species of leafhoppers, plant hoppers and moths, three borer and spiders, two crickets, one species of skippers, grass hopper, hispa, ant, weevil, hairy caterpillar, leaf roller, katydid, thrips, maggot and water boatmen were recorded in the study sites. Total of 41 species of pests, 18 species of predators and 12 species of beneficial species (they function as pollinating the flowering plants in the paddy field wetland ecosystem) were recorded in the study sites. In the monsoon season, the 41 species of pest species, 18 species of predator species and 12 species of beneficial species were recorded from monsoon rice field. According to Shannon Evenness value (H'/S = -0.012564), the data showed that the insect species recorded from the one habitat was not the similar to another. In summer paddy fields, 36 species of pest species, 16 species of predator species and 9 species of beneficial species were recorded. Total arthropod insect species were recorded 61 species from the dry rice fields. According to Shannon Evenness value (H'/S = -0.000120), the data showed that the insect species recorded from the one habitat was not the similar to another. Population growth and duration of life cycle of insects is mainly dominated by the temperature, the duration of life cycle is shorter in the high temperature than in the low temperature.

Relative Susceptibility of Four Coleopteran Stored-product Insects to Diatomaceous Earth SilicoSec

Laboratory bioassays were conducted to evaluate the insecticidal effect of diatomaceous earth （DE）, SilicoSec against Callosobruchus maculatus （F.）, Rhyzopertha dominica （F.）, Sitophilus zeamais （Motschulsky）, and Tribolium castaneum （Herbst） in cowpea, maize and wheat, at 25-32 ℃ and 54-68% relative humidity （r.h.）. SilicoSec was applied at rates： 0 （untreated control） 250, 500, 750 and 1,000 mg/kg of commodity. Adult mortality was measured after 3 to14 days of exposure. Progeny production was assessed after 40 or 56 days. The tested species varied in sensitivity to SilicoSec, with S. zeamais being most susceptible, but no significant differences in mortality levels observed between R. dominica, C. maculatus or T, castaneum after three days of exposure. After 5 days of exposure, all C. maculates adults died on cowpea treated at 1,000 mg/kg. Similarly, after 14 days of exposure all adults of the other species died on grains treated at 1,000 mg/kg, and were ranked in decreasing order of susceptibility S. zeamais 〉T castaneurn 〉 R. dominica. SilicoSec treatments suppressed progeny production （30 to 100%） in all the tested species. The implications of these findings to DE-based control strategy are discussed.

New taxa of Necrosciinae from Vietnam(Phasmatodea:Diapheromeridae)

In this study, one new genus, six new species and two new subspecies from the Necrosciinae of Vietnam are described and illustrated, namely Asceles hirsutus sp. nov., A.maculatus sp. nov., Lamachodes brocki sp. nov., Marmessoidea alata alata sp. nov. ＆ subsp. nov., M. alata elongata subsp. nov., M. liuxingyuei sp. nov. and Neooxyartes zomproi gen nov. ＆ sp. nov.

The genus Neohirasea Rehn(Phasmatodea: Diapheromeridae: Necrosciinae) from Vietnam

The following five species and six subspecies in the genus Neohirasea Rehn from Vietnam are described as new to science：N.biserrata sp.nov.,N.bispina bispina sp.nov.＆subsp.nov.,N.bispina babeensis subsp.nov.,N.catbaensis sp.nov.,N.coomani sp.nov.,N.hilli hilli sp.nov.＆subsp.nov.,N.hilli nahangensis subsp.nov.,N.hilli vietnamensis subsp.nov.and N.maerens pseudomaerens subsp.nov.A key to the Vietnamese species and subspecies of this genus is provided.